Tikki-Tavi

Wow! The theme is so clear and obvious. Theme is an underlying message or the lesson the author is trying to get the reader to understand. The theme of this short story, “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling, is To protect those who are not able to protect themselves is a duty which everyone owes to society. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the protagonist, represents protecting and helping others. I chose this theme because both Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and Nagaina were trying to protect their family. I can see why some people chose the theme Good is rewarded and evil is punished, but the egg that Nagaina had with her when she died in the hole may still hatch and then Rikki-Tikki-Tavi will have to protect his family from that snake because he probably has the same

instinct as his parents.
Then, Nagaina, the antagonist, tried to protect her family.

She sent Nag to kill the “Big man” because deep down she was scared; she did not want to die. After Rikki assassinated all of her eggs except one, she told Rikki that if he gave her the last egg, that she would go away and never come back. Even though, most likely she would have came back. Evil animals and people still care and protect their loved ones.

The “Big Man,” the father of the mortal family, tried to help protect his family as much as he could. He tried to finish off Karait, even though Rikki had already taken care of it. He also persuades the mother to let Rikki sleep with their child because he knows that his little one is safe with a mongoose to protect him. After Rikki kills Nag, the “Big Man” takes a broom and brings the dead snake out of the house to protect his family. It is blessing to have a loving family who protects you.

Rikki protects everyone around him and tries to keep them as safe as possible, just like the police, firemen, and doctors. When Nagaina tries to kill the human family, he distracts her and saves them. He kills all of Nagaina’s eggs, except one to protect the garden. In the climax, Rikki ends up killing Nagaina along with all the other snakes. Not only did he cause his human family to feel safer, he made the animals that live there very

merry.
Darzee and his wife helped protect the garden and their eggs. Darzee’s wife distracted Nagaina so Rikki could think of a plan. They risked their lives for their eggs. While he thought of a plan, he needed Nagaina’s eggs as part of the scheme. Darzee helped Rikki by being somewhat good company. You fight hard when it comes to your family.
I established a theme that I thought would work for this story, but then I found a loophole. I found a problem in Good is rewarded and evil is punished. Nagaina, the evil in the story, was punished with death in the climax. The good was not exactly rewarded because there was still an egg that Nagaina had with her before she died, so it could still hatch and Rikki will have another snake to protect his family and friends from.
In conclusion, the theme could only be To protect those who can’t protect themselves is a duty in which everyone owes to society. Just like in real life, a family will always protect the children who cannot protect themselves. Some will fail, and some will succeed. Just like in the story, if the parents are evil they want to protect their little ones by hurting other people. If the parents are good, they will protect their kids by helping everyone not just their family. So it is quite obvious that the author of this story, Rudyard Kipling, wanted the theme to be To protect those who can’t protect themselves is a duty in which everyone owes to society.